Glass maker to feature at Eel Festival

Post Time：Mar 13,2012Classify:Industry NewsView：203

LAKE BOLAC - Pomonal glassmaker James McMurtrie will be the feature artist at this year's Eel Festival.

Flows of lava, water and story is the festival theme for 2012, so it seemed appropriate to invite a craftsman who works with hot, flowing, viscous liquid to tell his own story through exquisite translucent objects.

McMurtrie grew up on a farm. He loved using his hands and finding out how things worked and his mother's passion for textiles influenced his sense of color and design. At secondary school, ceramics teacher, John Eagle, introduced McMurtrie to the raw medium of clay and a fascination with the firing process.

Living at the foot of the Grampians, his daily experience of the natural environment inspires McMurtrie's work.

"Glass captures the world in a whole new light. It's fluidity and availability to achieve instant results, reflects my desire to create beauty and interpret the world in which I live," he said

For the Eel Festival, McMurtrie has selected a range of his best selling bowls, platters and lamps.

Entries are also invited for the Lake Bolac Eel Festival Recycled Sculpture Competition to be held at Memorial Hall, Montgomery Street, Lake Bolac from 11am - 5pm Saturday March 24. The Theme is Birdscarers.

The Art Exhibition will open with a preview on Friday March 23, from 6- 8.pm, followed by openings on Saturday March 24 11am-5pm and Sunday March 25 11am- 4pm.